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AfDB lends €83mn to Egypt’s to

spur post-COVID-19 recovery

EGYPT THE African Development Bank (AfDB) have the development of Egyptian private entities,”
approved an €83mn loan to finance the second she added.
phase of Egypt’s Electricity and Green Growth Malinne Blomberg, the Bank’s Deputy Direc-
Support Programme. tor General for the North Africa Region, said the
The funding is part of the Bank’s budget sup- African Development Bank continues to actively
port to the Egyptian government to strengthen engage with the Egyptian government and pri-
its electricity infrastructure, which is expected to vate sector companies to support the country’s
bolster the private sector and accelerate recovery medium-term development plan and economic
from the COVID-19 crisis, the AfDB said. reforms, with a particular focus on economic
The programme seeks to enhance the power infrastructure such as energy, transport, water
sector’s financial sustainability, governance and and sanitation, as well as industrialization.
operations. In addition to the African Development
It will also advance the provision of clean, reli- Bank, Agence Française de Développement and
able energy to drive green growth. Egypt’s suc- the Japan International Cooperation Agency
cessful reforms in the sector have led to greater (JBIC) have also provided financial support to
private investment in utility-scale renewable Egypt’s Electricity and Green Growth Support
energy projects. Programme.
“Egypt’s Vision 2030 instills the sustainability JBIC agreed in March 2021 to provide
ethos across all sectors. Energy and electricity are $240mn of development finance to Egypt in a
amongst the top sectors in Egypt’s International bid to boost green growth and sustainable devel-
Development Cooperation’s portfolio, pushing opment while also combating climate change.
towards a green reform,” said Egypt’s Minister Japan’s current co-operation portfolio with
of International Cooperation, Rania Al Mashat. Egypt amounts to $2.7bn used in 14 projects in
“With 2021 being the year of private sector a number of developmental sectors, including
engagement, the Electricity and Green Growth electricity, education, higher education, scien-
Support Program will contribute towards sus- tific research, tourism and antiquities.™
tainable growth and job creation and catalyze

EU carbon tax could hit South Africa

SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH Africa’s exports to Europe could be neg- discriminatory taxes that would unfairly harm
atively affected when the European Union (EU) developing economies,” he said.
imposes carbon taxes on imports, as the country Investment firms are preparing by taking a
is heavily reliant on coal-fired electricity. stronger stance on environment, sustainability
The EU’s carbon border tax adjustment, and governance (ESG) issues, said BusinessLive.
known as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mech- Ninety One, Coronation and Alexander
anism (CBAM), could entail levies on goods Forbes have highlighted their commitment to
imported from countries with carbon intensive ESG investing in recent months.
industries from 2023, South Africa’s Business- “If you believe that carbon border tax is some-
Live warned. thing that the developed world applies because
Steel, cement and aluminium would be it’s one of the ways they can force emerging mar-
among the first imports to the EU to be affected. kets to address this problem then you’ve got to
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa see that coming and you’ve got to adapt,” said
wrote in Business Day recently that a more John Green, chief commercial officer of Ninety
nuanced approach to carbon taxes ought to be One, an asset management company.
adopted for developing economies. The EU aims to emissions by 55% by 2030.
He said he would engage countries at the This would allow the EU to meet the UNFCCC’s
COP26 climate conference in November on the COP26 targets for restricting global warming to
issue, of carbon tax import penalties and the 1.5 degrees by 2050.
phasing out of fossil fuels to get a fair deal for the The CBAM would extend the market prices
developing world. of the EU’s ETS (generically called the carbon
“We should be careful not to advocate one- market) to the rest of the world by applying to
size-fits-all approaches to disinvestment from imports a carbon levy that mirrors the price of
fossil fuels or impose non-tariff barriers or carbon in the ETS.™

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